Working from home

In a down economy, more people than ever have decided to be their own boss — as well as their own salesperson, bookkeeper, office assistant and any other role that needs filling in a one-person business.

In a down economy, more people than ever have decided to be their own boss — as well as their own salesperson, bookkeeper, office assistant and any other role that needs filling in a one-person business.

About 16.1 million people were doing direct selling in 2009, mostly from home-based businesses, the national Direct Selling Association reports. That’s up from 14.1 million in 2005.

Four area women selling those latter products cite reasons like flexible hours, growing self-identity and social networking — not to mention pretty good money — for getting into direct sales.

“My ‘why’ for doing it was to get out and meet people,” explained Beth Timmer, a Tastefully Simple consultant since 2001. The 38-year-old Zeeland mother is a former teacher and homeschools her four children. She said the work gives her a separate identify — not as a former teacher or as somebody’s wife or somebody’s mother.

“It’s been a wonderful journey,” she said.

The newby among the four is Spring White, 37, of Park Township. She’s been selling Rodan+Fields skin treatment products since June, after quitting her job as a librarian and spending a long winter with her two children, ages 3 and 5.

“Last winter did it for me,” she said, telling of lengthy days spent just with kids. “I had to do something for myself” — and keep her mind sharp, she added.

Kerri Byrne, 37, of Standale, quit a job in retail management 10 years ago when her son was 6 weeks old and she wanted time with her kids. That son is now 10, and her youngest, 6, has special needs, so the flexibility of the work is especially valuable.

All celebrated the flexibility, telling of selling at parties or demonstrations during the evening when husbands were home with the children or of catching up on phone calls or paperwork in their kitchens or living rooms — sometimes in pajamas.

Dalene Abbott recalled working “insane hours” owning a retail business. She left, took five months off and just spent time with her two children, ages 15 and 13. When they went back to school, she became a Silpada Jewelry representative in November 2009.

“I can still do all the activities with the kids, but still have an income,” said the Byron Center 39-year-old, whose income helps fund extras like entertainment and her daughter’s travel soccer team expenses. “It’s just nice to say, ‘OK, I can buy these for her.’”

And while the flexibility and social aspects of the work are great, the money is not bad, either.

Byrne recalls launching her work with “a wing and a prayer” figuring she’d be OK if she could at least make the $635 a month house payment.

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Ten years later, she’s way ahead. Through August this year, she’s made more than $12,000 — and had seven weeks of vacation. That’s from working two or three evenings a week for demonstrations plus some daytime hours for calls and paperwork; she figures her hourly rate might be $25 to $30. She’s also earned an enviable list of 10 trips, vacations ranging from Alaska and Miami to Vienna and London.

“For the first time, I was not contributing financially to the family, and I just missed that,” said White, who, although just starting out, said her first commission check was enough to cover a car payment.

The women like they can fit the product and work to their needs and goals.

Timmer and Byrne do full presentations, preparing food. Abbott said her jewelry shows are more like a women’s night out with women passing around the jewelry and trying it on. White emphasizes social media networking online.

A key to success is picking the right product, the women advised.

Do research, White advised. Find out what’s out there, what people want to buy and what you can be passionate about.

“You have to believe in it.” White said she started selling the skin care products because she used it.

Search the Internet for outside sources of information and advice, starting with the national Direct Sellers Association and U.S. government agencies.

Start-up costs vary widely. The women warned to watch for those that tack on a lot of extra costs.

Some have one-time start-up fees, in the $150 to $200 range, while others are annual or have minimum sales requirements. Byrne said starting in Pampered Chef has a one-time $155 cost that brings $570 of product and materials. Silpada has an annual fee of $199, Abbott said, but that comes with $100 of jewelry.

Bottom line? Despite all the perks like flexibility and freedom, the woman emphasized the need to be disciplined.

“The key to any direct sales, if you want to make money at it, you have to treat it as a business,” Timmer said.

Abbott makes sure she scheduled “office hours” each week to make phone calls and take care of paperwork.

And White had to stretch some.

“I had to get out of my comfort zone, I had to walk out of that, but when I did, I enjoyed it.”

And the women said there are still plenty of sales opportunity to go around.

“It’s so easy, and it’s such good money,” Abbott said.

And the women insisted their sales are improving, although the national association reports that from 2005 to 2009, U.S. retail direct sales declined from $30.47 billion to $28.33 billion, after peaking at 32.18 billion in 2006.

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But, Timmer said, Tastefully Simple saw a 12 percent sales growth in West Michigan last year. “People figure they don’t have to go out to eat.”

“I have a higher end product and still don’t have trouble selling it,” Silpada rep Abbott said.

They theorize the down economy has helped boost sales, with a push for home entertaining instead of dining out or for home sales parties as relatively low-cost girls nights out.

The women see themselves as bucking the trend in the down economy.

They shuddered at the idea of putting a similar 15 to 20 hours a week into a regular part-time job, where they’d work the worst hours, “be tied to a boss” and have to deal with childcare issues.

Instead, as Byrne put it, “We’re finding a way in this economy to make our businesses work.”

“We are bringing in extra income and getting the bills paid during a time in our economy where it can be a challenge,” White said.